


A Rocky Start to a Beautiful Relationship

by CosmicEclipse



Series: Persona 5 shorts [1]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angry MC, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-22 20:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18141413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicEclipse/pseuds/CosmicEclipse
Summary: Essentially the beginning of Kawakami's S. Link and how their relationship started off in the beginning. Has the same spin as the other two P5 pics I posted.





	A Rocky Start to a Beautiful Relationship

**Author's Note:**

> So when I was still kind of working on the P5 fic as a whole thing I found "The Thief of Light, The Maid of Shadows" by Lonely_Support, which is a really good fic I recommend to anyone who likes the Akira/Kawakami pair. I mainly wanted to focus on character interaction while I was doing it and ended up skipping to the stuff I wanted to write (The other two fics) and wanted to kind of try my hand at what he was doing. This is the beginning of that, but I'm not planning on doing more. At least not for this pairing and not in the near future.
> 
> Takes place near the start of the story so Akira is basically at his most antagonistic towards most people and especially those that refuse to see him.

“Hey man, check this out.” Ryuji walked up to Akira. The glasses wearing boy was sitting in the small area with the vending machines between buildings.

“What’s that?” Akira asked, looking at the pink slip of paper Ryuji was holding.

“It’s a flyer for a maid service I found in my mailbox.” Akira noticed Ryuji become more excited, “They send a cute maid who’ll do anything for you!”

“Alright…”

“Come on, you know where this is going. There’s a vacant apartment in my complex we can use, no problem. You in?” Ryuji asked.

“Sure.” Akira said, thinking about if he had any plans.

“Sweet-!”

“Hey! I heard that!” Someone said.

“What the hell?” Ryuji asked as Mishima walked up to them.

“I, uh… Would it… Um… Can I join you guys?” Mishima asked timidly.

“Whoa, you’re into this stuff?” Ryuji asked.

“Didn’t take you for the type.” Akira said.

“I’m not into it! I-I just want to see what “anything” means, and see if they’re doing what they advertise.” Mishima said.

“Bullshit, tell the truth.”

“I-I just want to punish the bad guys. And to do that I need to see it with my own eyes!”

“Yeah, every little detail!” Ryuji said. “Since we have to do this at night, just tell us when you’re ready.”

“How about 7?”

“That works.”

“Since this is like a spy thing, we need a name right? How about Operation Maid Watch!” Mishima offered.

“I like it!” Ryuji smiled.

——

“Where are you going?” Sojiro asked as Akira headed towards the door.

“Just to hang out with friends.”

“Dressed like that?” He eyed the stylish clothing, a white blazer over a black shirt and jeans.

“Do I not look good?”

“You look too good. Who are these friends?”

“Ryuji and Mishima.”

“Ah, you’re going to pick up chicks. If you bring anyone back here, which you shouldn’t, they have to be gone by morning.”

“Noted.”

“Alright then. Have fun and try not to get too crazy.”

“Thanks.” Akira said as he walked out, shaking his head.

——

“So we’re really doing this?” Mishima asked, dressed in a long sleeve short with a white torso and green sleeves and khakis.

“Operation Maid Watch, bro!” Ryuji smiled, wearing a yellow tank top and cargo shorts.

“Operation Maid Watch.”

“Plus, if things get sketchy we can just leave. This place is empty, so it’s not like we’re messing with anyone’s life.”

“Genius.” Akira said.

“Thanks!” Ryuji smiled.

“To think that Sakamoto had a brain.” Mishima said.

“Hey!”

“But if that’s the case, then…”

“Then…” Ryuji smiled.

“Call them up!” Mishima said.

“Alright.” Akira pulled out a prepaid phone he bought from a convenience store.

“A burner?” Ryuji asked.

“I can’t have this showing up in my call log.”

“Good point.”

Akira dialed the number and waited as the phone rang a few times. “Thank you for calling. This is Victoria’s Housekeeping. Is there anyone in particular you’d like to  
request?”

“Request?” Ryuji asked.

“No, just send anyone.” Akira said.

“Very well. We have a maid available in… twenty minutes. Can I have your address?”

Akira gave them the address and apartment number. All that was left was the wait.

“Shit, this is really happening.” Ryuji said.

“A maids “Services”…” Mishima said. “What should we have her do? I was thinking we start with cooking, but I wouldn’t mind any of her other services either.”

“You said we have twenty minutes, right? I’m going to the bathroom.” Ryuji said, leaving Mishima and Akira alone.

 

“I-It’s almost time. You were in there for a while.” Mishima said. “Are you okay? Did you wash your hands?”

Ryuji was silent, until he realized Mishima had asked him something. “Huh? What? Me?” Ryuji asked.

“Y-you’re really nervous.” Mishima gave an anxious laugh. “Wait! Are high school students even allowed to use a service like this?”

Ryuji stared at him like he had just grown a second head. “Huh?”

“What do you mean, “Huh?”? You didn’t research this beforehand? What if they find out who we are?!”

“But why would that matter when it comes to housekeeping?”

“We’d be screwed if you used your actual phone and your number showed up on caller ID.”

The doorbell rang and everyone froze.

“Good evening, I’m from the housekeeping service!” Came a womans voice that only Akira thought sounded slightly familiar.

“She’s here already? She’s five minutes early! What do we do? I’m not mentally prepared for this!” Mishima said.

“Oh, the door’s open. Can I come in?” She asked as they heard the door creak.

“I can’t do this! My stomach is in knots and my hands are sweating! I’m sorry bro, but the rest is up to you! Don’t let her find out we’re in high school! I’ve still got your back. Just… from, like, way back. Like the balcony.”

“What?! No, I’m coming with you. This is all up to you, Kurusu.” Mishima said as he followed Ryuji quickly out the back door.

“You two owe me. Like, big time.” Akira said as he turned towards them and the door.

“Excuse me. Oh, you’re here.” The woman said. “Welcome home, Master,” Akira rolled his eyes. “I’m going to fill your heart full of lovely energy! Meow! I’m Becky, and I have the pleasure of serving you today!”

“Nice to Me-ow-t you too.” Akira said blankly before mentally slapping himself. He could see the smirk on Ryuji’s face through the slight gaps in the blinds.

“We’re going to get along well! Meow! Oh, how thoughtless of me, I should explain our services to you, Master! The basics include cooking, cleaning, laundry… But there are other “Services” we provide if you so desire.”

Akira was silent at that, but could infer a meaning on the emphasis of the word.

“Hm? You look kind of young. Are you perhaps… In High School?”

“I’m a college student.” Akira said.

“You’re not lying to me are you?”

Both of them were silent for a few moments.

“I think I’ll wait until you’re a little older before providing those additional “Services”. I’ll be going now.”

“What? No!” Ryuji said from the balcony.

“Quiet!” Mishima scolded.

“Is someone out there?!” Becky walked to the sliding door.

“Oh no…” Mishima sounded on the verge of tears.

“Shit! Run, Mishima!”

“Mishima? Sakamoto?” Her confusion turned to realization at the second name. “And you!” She turned to look at Akira, who looked very annoyed at the sound of footsteps fading off into the distance.

“Did you request me specifically?” The maid asked. Akira thought she looked a little familiar, but couldn’t quite place it. Her hair was tied into two large pony tails on either side of her head.

Akira glared at her. “Did they say we requested you specifically? Wait…”

“Oh, no!” She said quickly realizing he hadn’t figured it out yet. “You don’t know me! How could you know me? This is our first time meeting, Master!”

Akira suddenly realized where he remembered her voice from. She closed her eyes when she saw the look of realization in his, completely missing the large grin that formed on his face. “Kawakami?”

“Ugh, yes, it’s me, your homeroom teacher.” She sighed before the sound of maniacal laughter filled her ears. “Sure, fine, laugh all you want at my plight.” She said bitterly.

Akira did just that and continued to laugh at her. “Oh man, that shit is priceless!” He said as he finally caught his breath and calmed down.

“I can’t believe this is happening…” She groaned. “I’m so finished. I can’t believe I got caught by my own student. I should have taken a job out side the city, but it’s easier to get to work after this. Who did you hear about this from? Was it Ms. Chouno? That Harpy!”

“Who?”

“The English teacher? Ms. Chouno?”

“Oh. No, fuck her.”

“Watch your mouth.”

“Fuck you too, we’re not at school.”

“That’s still no way to talk to a teacher.”

“You couldn’t pay me to care.”

“Ugh, fine.”

“So why’d you suspect Ms…”

“Ms. Chouno. You should really remember your teachers names.”

“Waste of brain cells.”

“You are just…” She sighed before continuing, “Ms. Chouno has been snooping around recently since the thing with Kamoshida. Are you going to tell her about this?”

Akira considered his options for a second. “That’s really up to you.” He said.

She was silent. “You know, if you’re going to side with a teacher, you should side with me. I’m the one in charge of your class after all.” She noted the unimpressed look on his face, “And if you don’t tell her about this, I promise I’ll do anything for you.”

“You’re offering up a lot.”

“You’re going to be in just as much trouble if people find out about you calling a maid service.”

“It won’t get me expelled. And I can handle more rumors. Not like I care what those drones think. You, on the other hand… You’ve got more to lose in this than me.”

“You don’t even live here do you? At least you thought that part out. Listen, just don’t tell anyone about this. Forget it ever happened. I won’t tell anyone about you either. I’ll treat this as if you canceled, so it’s free of charge. On that note, I’ll be leaving.” She said before heading for the door.

“I hope one of her heels breaks.” Akira said before leaving as well.

—————

Akira was on his way out when he noticed Kawakami talking to another teacher. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but could tell it was intense. He decided to walk up and see what was going on.

“As I’ve been saying I don’t- Oh, get home safely, Kurusu.” Kawakami said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got other matters to attend to.”

“No! We’re not done talking yet.”

“But-.”

“There’s been a series of scandals at this school and we’re all being called into question. Yet you always leave the earliest and barely make it to the faculty meetings. Why is that? Explain yourself!”

“Kawakami’s being grilled by Ms. Chouno. She did offer us anything if we helped her out. You should step in.” Morgana said from his bag.

“… Fine.” Akira said after a few seconds of thinking. With any luck, he’d get something useful out of this.

“The school is closing soon, Mr. Kurusu. You should get going. Or did you need something from Ms. Kawakami?” Ms. Chouno asked.

“I just wanted to ask about our study session.”

“Huh?” Both women asked.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about our study session, Ms. Kawakami. This is exactly why I wanted to talk to you. To see if you had everything prepared.”

“Study session?” Ms. Chouno asked.

“Ah, y-yes! I’ve been tutoring Kurusu after school.” Sadayo said incredibly unconvincingly.

“But you have amazing grades.” She turned to Akira.

“Thanks in part to Ms. Kawakami.”

“So you’re giving individual study sessions outside of school? Such passion! Passionate teachers like you are just what we need at this school! I’m sorry I suspected you!” Ms. Chouno said before walking away.

“So simple.” Akira shook his head.

“She just kind of convinced herself, but it got me out of that fire, so thank you… Can you come with me for a second?” Sadayo said, leading him to a more empty part of the school.

“What do you need?” Akira asked.

“This isn’t really something I can talk about at school, but here’s the number to my other job and my schedule. As a thanks for helping me out, I mean. Just call and request me whenever you want. Just make sure it doesn’t show up on your call history.”

“Sweet! Nice going, man! Now you can call her up whenever you need! Since it can’t show up on your phone, you should use the yellow one in the cafe!” Morgana said.

“What was that?” Sadayo asked, sure she heard a cat.

“Nothing.” Akira said.

“Alright then… I have to get going. Bye.” Sadayo walked off.

“You can’t talk like that at school when someone is around.”

“Sorry.”

———————

Akira stood in front of the yellow rotary phone on the bar of Leblanc. He quickly put in the number he was given while Sojiro was in the kitchen.

“Hi! This is Becky!”

“Hi.” Akira said.

“Oh it’s you.” She said flatly, leaving Akira to feel vaguely offended. “It’s 5,000 yen, including the request fee. Are you okay with that?”

“Five thou-! Yeah.” He said.

“I see. Then I’ll head right over.”

 

Once Leblanc was close to closing, Akira started drumming practice like he always did. This time he didn’t bother to lock the door so Sad- Becky, could get in. He’d been playing intensely for nearly an hour before Becky finally got there. When alone, Akira preferred to play shirtless. He felt more comfortable and didn’t have to deal with his shirt restricting any sort of movement. Becky was not prepared for this. She could hear the drums banging loudly even from outside the shop, but she wasn’t expecting to see her student shirtless and drenched in sweat playing on a drum kit. She wasn’t sure what he was playing, but it was fast and violent sounding.

“Akira.” She said, not noticing his headphones. “Akira!” She said louder, waking Morgana, who was sleeping on the banister. “Akira!” She nearly yelled, but still couldn’t get his attention. Then she noticed a cat get up and walk towards him, jumping from the banister and bouncing off his head before landing on the floor.

“Ow, Morgana, what the fuck?!” He said as the sound suddenly stopped and he looked towards the stairs where Morgana had landed. He saw Becky staring at him in awe, but only gave her an annoyed glare. “What the fuck are you looking at, Becky?” He asked, startling her.

“You called me, remember?”

“I do.” Akira said after closing his eyes and sighing. “Sorry. I get kind of annoyed when my practice sessions get interrupted by balls of fur JUMPING OFF MY HEAD!” He shouted at the black and white cat, who only meowed in response. “I know you only did it to get my attention, but that doesn’t make it okay.” Another meow. “Don’t be an asshole, Morgana. I’ll make you sleep outside.”

“You speak cat?” Sadayo asked with a grin.

“A little.” Akira said seriously before getting up. “Anyway,” He grabbed a towel and started drying himself of sweat, “There’s not much to do, I guess. Just dust or something. I don’t really have anything that needs to be washed, and there’s nothing to cook.” He put a shirt on and grabbed a book from a shelf.

“That’s it?”

“That’s it. Shouldn’t you be grateful to have to do so little? Would you prefer I request some of those other “Services”?”

“No! I’m grateful!. It’s just… This is your room? It’s kind of…”

“Trash.”

“Not the words I would use to describe it, but you said it.”

“It’s an attic that used to be used as storage for a curry and coffee shop. The only thing good about this room is how spacious it is.”

“Yeah, there is that.”

“You know, I didn’t say this last time, but you look a lot different without the sex hair.”

“Sex hair?” She asked, shocked.

“Yeah. The frazzled and slightly messy way you wear your hear usually. It’s sex hair.”

“What do you know about what people look like after sex?”

Akira shrugged. “Movies, mostly. Don’t really have access to or the time for porn, so I couldn’t tell you what’s in that.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m busy and I don’t have any convenient way to access porn. I’ve got other shit in my life going on.”

“Like drumming until your hands bleed?” She asked, noting his hands were raw and small beads of blood were forming between is thumb and index finger.

“Yes!” He said, annoyed as he put his book down.

“I’ll get to work then.” She said quickly.

Akira left her alone with his cat while he went somewhere.

“Is he always like this?” She asked, getting what she assumed to be a cat version of a scoff and light meow in return. “If only I knew what that meant.” She sighed as she got to work cleaning.

She was finished by the time Akira came back, both his hands wrapped in bandages and holding a medical supply box.

“Where’d you go?” She asked from her spot on the couch.

Akira didn’t answer, instead looking around the room to see if she’d earned the break she was taking. He nodded contently at the sight of a clean room and said, “My doctor.”

“Your doctor is open this time of night?”

“Yes.”

“And in walking distance?”

“Yes.”

“Convenient.”

“Incredibly so.”

“So…” She said.

“What?” Akira asked, grabbing the book he was planning to read and sitting on the couch next to her, completely disregarding her placement there.

“What kind of kid are you?” She asked moving up from the couch, feeling awkward about sharing a love seat with a student.

“What do you mean?” He asked without looking up from his book.

“Well… You stood up to Kamoshida with no problem, so you must have a strong sense of Justice. Yet you called me. Why is that?”

“Do I need a reason?”

“Oh, right. You have a criminal record.”

She stepped away slightly at the glare he leveled at her over both his book and glasses, “Don’t talk about things you don’t know about, Becky.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you don’t know me or what happened, so keep your fucking mouth shut.”

“So what did happen?”

“I’m not telling you.”

She felt offended at the vitriol he spat the last word with. Like she was someone who had wronged him somehow. “Why not? I’m your teacher, I deserve to know.”

“You deserve nothing. I don’t trust you. You’re not my friend. If you ever manage to become my friend, I’ll tell you, but until then you can fuck off.”

“That is no way to speak to your teacher!” She stepped forward in a bit of annoyance.

“You’re not my teacher. You’re Becky, the maid I hired to clean because I’ve got other shit going on. You’re only my teacher between the hours of 8 AM and 3PM. When you’re not either of those things, you effectively do not exist to me. Whatever pushes you to do this job, whether it be money, men, or whatever, it’s none of my business, and I don’t care. I helped you because you said I would get something out of it and I have.”

In a fit of rage Sadayo stepped forward and slapped him, knocking his glasses to the floor.

“You’re on thin fucking ice, Kawakami.” Akira said as he picked his glasses up.

“What? Are you going to hit me, you little hoodlum?”

“I’m not really the fighting type. There are far easier ways to ruin someones life.”

“I’m sure you’d know.”

“Believe me when I say I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. It wouldn’t be a difficult task to get you caught doing this. An anonymous tip and a few pictures to the school and suddenly this is your full time job.”

She was going to say something, but picked up on what he seemed to be inferring. She suddenly realized she wasn’t dealing with some gangster or violent delinquent who was trying to lay low, he was just a pissed off kid who had ended up in a situation he didn’t want to be in. He was angry and distrustful and she wasn’t helping at all.

“Akira, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you. I just let my anger take hold of me.” She said.

Akira was silent as he eyed her, and she noticed him looking for signs of sincerity, proving her hypothesis. She could tell he didn’t fully believe her, but he accepted her apology and offered one of his own.

“Okay. Sorry for calling you a hooker.”

“… Apology accepted.” She said, not realizing what he’d meant until just then. “How about we make a deal? I’ll let you skip class sometimes, and you just have to keep my secret and request me every so often. But I retain the right to call the deal off if your grades start slipping.” She offered a hand.

Akira, once again, eyed her suspiciously, but did shake her hand. “Fine, It’s a deal.”

“So, should I leave?” She pointed to the door.

Akira checked his watch and shook his head. “I paid for an hour, so you’re here for another thirty minutes.”

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“I don’t know,” He shrugged. “Relax, I guess. I have some DVDs if you want to watch something.”

Sadayo was honestly surprised by his sudden lack of animosity towards her. Maybe he was more well meaning than he let on under the right circumstances. It was just a matter of finding out what they were.

**Author's Note:**

> There it is. I think I used a bit too much of the games template but I'm generally glad with how it came out. Probably could have posted this around the same time as the other fics, but just never got around to it. Hope you liked it.


End file.
